The Opposite of the Opposite

It's been a while since I've updated but currently my class is working with negative and positive integers/rational numbers.  In order to get my students to understand the concept that two negative signs create a positive sign (i.e. -(-3) = +3), I've decided to crank out the number line/coordinate plane! Unfortunately the coordinate plane I had last year got lost during the transition in moving from upstairs to downstairs, so I have to create a new one.

Below is a video of them ordering themselves from least to greatest after they understood that the opposite of an opposite is the equal to the number itself.

Unlike last year, many students have expressed interest in sharing their opinions on what math is like for them this year compared to last year. Now that there's a bit more time because of the holiday, I'll try to get to it by Wednesday!

Scavenger Hunt Part II

Now that we've been working on ratios and unit rates for a few weeks I decided to have the students participate in another scavenger hunt activity with variety of rate/unit rate problems. I have been extremely busy and have not had the time to post as frequently as I would like to. Teaching (student learning) seems to be a much bigger challenge this year than last for me. Trying to do my best.

Welcome Year Three~

Welcome back! My third year of teaching started on September 9th 2015. I'm certainly not a complete beginner anymore but I feel like I still have plenty of work to do. I have awesome students this year that are excited about being 6th graders, excited to be in a new school with new friends and new teachers. To start the year off I decided to lightly introduce scavenger hunts in my class where students get a chance to work together, move around and solve math problems. Take a look below!

Never Say You Can't!

Meet "Z". He's a student that struggles and feels as though math is "impossible" like plenty of other adolescents. While it took an immensely long time to get the job done, he managed to solve it all on his own, and his reaction is priceless. The following problem:

Mr. E has 7 packs of sugar and 14 packs of tea. He wants to make groups using the same number of sugar and tea packs, with none left over. What is the greatest number of groups he can make?

How many packs of sugar will be in each group?
How many packs of tea will be in each group?

Preparing for the New Year

While Summer '15 was certainly filled with laughter and joy, this is the final week. This is a short clip of what we did in week 2 (the Smartboard is now working and in daily use...).

Lately I've been preparing my mind, clearing my thoughts and thinking of things that worked and didn't work this year, and how I'll change them. This time, I want to create a classroom culture where more emphasis is placed on listening to whoever is talking, and somehow incorporate that into tokens. I also want to take Concept Constructions up a notch and incorporate it into tokens as well.

Because the tokens were so strong last year, I need to find ways that I can improve the system and make it more fun for the kids. This includes switching prizes from time to time, and added reinforcement to other positive behaviors that we need more of to run a successful math classroom.

The End of the Year

It's been over a month since I've posted. I spent a lot of time finishing up my thesis and I'm proud to say that within the time between this post and my last one, I've obtained my master's degree in Education (MS.Ed). I will also teach summer school and continue to teach 6th graders in the next school year! This year has taught me so much that I'll outline in another post later.

My students have grown and learned so much this year and have even surpassed my ability in many of the thinking and strategic games we play (i.e. Lightbot). More students have also fully completed Dragonbox 2. if I make a mistake while going over a problem (purposely or not), they will sometimes correct me.

Lastly, some students have taken the initative and asked me to teach them specific things in math. My highlight of the day "Mr. E, can you teach me geometry?" Not my favorite sub-topic in math but I am happy that there is a desire to learn and grow! We have been playing educational and/or practice games. Here are some of the more recent videos below:

P.S. - Is the power of multiplayer/network games in mathematics not apparent from the video below? Technology is such a strong tool in education and the level of engagement is unmatched. Ultimately, I want to take the time and use the experience I have with video games to create my own engaging game(s) for math. Coding comes first.

Getting our Own Data

The point of this lesson was for us to generate our own data and later create histograms, dot plots, and box plots using the data. Students played Mario Kart 8 and took the average number of points for each group of 4 players at the end of a race. They had to answer the following questions:

Considering variables are plentiful in Mario Kart 8, I thought that it'd be a good idea to mention how these things can cause us to make skewed conclusions considering so many factors could have affected the outcome (items and course obstacles are good example for Mario Kart). They struggled with conceptual questions that required them to compare the group average to each individual player's number of points.

The activity was fun, but I don't think the students got what I wanted them to get out of it. I really wanted them to understand that all of these different variables in the game can affect what place you come in, which in turn affects the number of points you will  get. Given this, it's hard to make a conclusion like "Mr. E is a better player than Mr. Campbell" because so many variables could affect the outcome. Only tiny portion of them were able to grasp that.

I am happy that I gave something new/different a shot! At the very least the kids had fun!

Too Cool

On any given day, there are at least 10-15 students that desire to come to my room to hangout, and will wait by my door to do so. This does not include the extra 10 that make walk-in demands. I do not tell these students to come upstairs. They wait by my door on their own. At least unlike last year, I can actually manage so many students now, however, I no longer have a lunch period! I try to create a list for all of the students that would like to go downstairs and get lunch, but there are just too many. Although it's not my fault, my apologies to any of my co-workers that this is causing trouble for! On the days in which I have the video games, there are even more students. Last Friday all 25+ seats were full! I am extremely exhausted, not only with school and my thesis, but the end of the year quality review, my bulletin, as well as the end of the school year.

On the bright side, I have undoubtedly been successful with getting students to play "games" (and I put this in quotation because they are no longer games in the sense where the only thing gained from playing is solely entertainment) that require them to critically think. First with square dice, and now Dragonbox. Students are extremely anxious to come upstairs for lunch and continue their accounts in Dragonbox. This is awesome. If they continue to play these types of games that I have played when I was their age, their critical thinking skills will be superb by the middle of next year. I am already confident that many of them have done a great job with the exam and will be prepared for the net school year.

Mario Kart 8 and Statistics Part II

Lesson #53 - Statistical Questions With Mario by MR.E

Mario Kart 8 & Statistics

It's been tough to update as I have been trying my best to juggle chapter 6 of my thesis as well as prepare students for the state exam. I have absolutely no time as of late. We will be working on a unit focusing on probability and statistics after the test. I want the students to be able to answer statistical questions surrounding Mario Kart 8, and use the data gathered from their races to learn statistical concepts.

Mean, median, mode, range, box plots of their data, etc. Perhaps we can answer a question like "are the girls or boys more likely to score higher in a race of Mario Kart 8?" or "what is the average time it takes (insert class here) to complete a race in Mario Kart 8?" There are so many things that can affect the data (items, computers or no computers, stage difficulty), and this serves as a good discussion to have with the kids. What's best is that ALL students can access this because all that's required is for you to play! I have a bit more planning to do to figure out how things will run, but I'm excited and I'm sure they'll be excited too.

From Dragonbox to Equations

Dragonbox Takes off

Originally intended to be just a project, Dragonbox has certainly taken off with 603. From 6 iPads to all of the laptops in the cart! What I love about the game is it really is as though you're being ranked. The further you get in the game (without help), the stronger you are. For the students that have completed the first Dragonbox, I have purchased the 2nd one (age 12+) for the computers in the cart.

It will be interesting to see how this transfers onto 7th grade. The next few posts will be a quick (or not so quick) peek into how the game can help with algebra.

Back from Tokyo

I have been away from the blog for a while! Not only have I been trying my best to prepare the students for the Common Core State math exam next week, I took a trip to Japan during Spring break. I am STILL jetlagged and have gotten no more than 4 hours of sleep the past few nights.

In addition to the Spring Break homework packet, I am giving another packet this weekend that will cover adding decimals, quadrants, inequalities, unit rates and absolute value.

Our next unit is statistics and I want to use Mario Kart 8 to be our source for gaining data. Perhaps we can work towards finding out the fastest players or the fastest class, and use data from the game (the time it takes students to complete a race) to learn stat topics such as mean, median, mode, box plots, stem/leaf, etc.

Spring Break and Math

As spring break starts next Friday, I am planning to give the students a very long homework packet that they can begin on Tuesday. It's fairly questionable as to why the upcoming state exams (April 23rd) are taking place so soon after spring break (in the case of ELA, almost immediately). The kids are still in vacation mode and take some time to adjust. Nevertheless, I want to make sure that the students are prepared. There are very few teaching days in April.

Topics will include everything that we've learned from the beginning of the school year as well as plenty of word problems. I will be in Tokyo for the entire duration of the break, so I'm hoping that the kids will spend plenty of time studying and trying their best practicing. We have started to review already beginning with percents.

Video Games in Mathematics VII

Unexpectedly, I am able to login to my iTunes account and purchase the game on the Macs in the cart. Therefore, we now have a new addition to our crew!

They've tested the game, like it, and are enthusiastic about continuing their progress on Monday.

Here are some other videos from Day 3:

Video Games in Mathematics VI

The goal of Dragonbox is/was to get students to try to make the connection between the concepts taught in the game, and a typical one-step equation. So, for lesson #2, I had students complete the following:




Here, a student is attempting to bridge the game and equations:

Video Games in Mathematics V

To get some students acclimated to the basics of algebra, I have had some of them begin to play the iPad game called "Dragonbox". I've paid for the game and downloaded it onto a few iPads and let the students go.

Bonding

At 12:30PM, the rush begins. There is a mad dash from 6th and even some 7th graders to come to my classroom for lunch to play video games, use the computer, and for some, tutoring (although this has to be forced on them...). The other day, I had an entire classroom worth of students up for lunch. The irony is that this is more manageable than a regular class at times! It's a big improvement from last year, as I am able to manage all of these students successfully without any trouble, at a time where everyone is relaxed and having a good time free of responsibility.

If I have a student that wants to come upstairs, and I have his/her class next period and I am giving a test, the rule is that they are not allowed to play video games or use the computer, but they must study. They have a choice to walk away, or stay. Unfortunately, some have immediately walked away, However, some others have chosen to stay. A student wanted to use the computers, and didn't even know what was going to be on the test!

I don't have much time left, so I hope that these values pass on to these students so that next year, they spend their lunch times studying and keep track of their priorities. As much as I played video games as a youngster, my priorities were always intact.

My toughest class has started to request to come upstairs to my room. I have no idea what happened. They've given me such a difficult time in the past, but the past week and a half has gotten better. I hope that this continues. I almost wanted to shed a tear the other day. It feels like we've finally gotten closer. I forgot the Wii U gamepad last week, so I was stuck with only 3 controllers instead of 4. They were able to share with each other without any quarreling, with only those three! They've come such a long way and I'm proud of them.

Video Games in Mathematics IV

Video Games in Mathematics III

The third time's a charm. Not only does the following app pertain directly to my topic, it's actually challenging and a bit fun. It's called "Algebra"

Here is a pic and video of me playing the game:

Timed, unlike the previous game. Definitely useful. Perhaps for assessment purposes (getting a certain number correct within a minute) or just practice purposes.

Video Games in Mathematics II

Couldn't think of anything else with the Wii U so I've been looking at apps on the iPad. One of the apps I came across is terrible so I'm not even going to bother mentioning it here, but the following app "My Equation" isn't so bad:

There's just no followup besides having students pick the correct sign. It's not timed either...There's absolutely no extension, meaning that students will get bored after 5 minutes with the game (just like I have).... On second thought...It is quite bad.. I'll continue to update until I find some solid games.

Video Games in Mathematics......

My thesis is about using video games to teach mathematics in the classroom. My biggest problem and fear: there's such a lack of educational games, let alone those with a specific focus on equations! Am I in over my head this time? It is looking more and more like I'll have to eventually turn to apps instead of conventional video game systems (I.e. Wii U/PS3) etc. Knowing that I'll never give up, I've been fooling around with Art Academy: Sketchpad on the Wii U with the intention of drawing problems or creating a course of artworks (which are just math problems) that they have to solve.

Problems: There's no difference between using this and writing it on the board. And this game doesn't actually teach math. Would you still consider it applicable? There's still a motivational/fun factor there for students who would prefer this as opposed to me just writing it on the board. They can use the Gamepad to write their own questions and have their classmates solve. Humble beginnings I suppose in terms of finding the right games, and I really, really don't have much time....

Reflecting on Student Feedback

So the school has been using 10teaching.net in order to help us become better teachers by using feedback from both students and parents. My overall rating below:

Not bad! I let 42 of my students complete the survey (I had two classes that finished it today). Not all of the language is exactly kid-friendly however, but it still means a lot to me that this is what my students think! Made my day!

Parent Teacher Conference 3-12-15

Next week Thursday is the next Parent-Teacher conference. I'm excited! It's been a long time since I've seen parents and we have covered so many different topics since then. The entire unit on negative and positive integers has flew by, as well as half of expressions and equations I.

I need to speak to many parents about the progress of their students, so I'm hoping that the turnout is high. Unfortunately as a teacher, everything that goes wrong is your fault. It feels like no one else is held responsible or accountable for anything but you. This leaves you very mentally and physically drained with the support of no one but perhaps your colleagues (whom are likely overwhelmed with their own struggles).

Considering that before no time, we'll be at the final stretch of the school year, it's crucial now to talk with parents and have everyone try their best before the end of the year. Hoping I get to see more parents than last time! I'm prepared.

VSC Math Rewards - New Title!

Every few months or so it appears that the students who earn gold tokens get focused on one particular game. Super Mario 3D world in the beginning of the year, Mario Kart 8 a bit later on, and Smash has been going strong for a while now.

Introducing, Mario Party 10. I think the kids will love this game. Finally a multiplayer game that everyone can have fun with and play. Not everyone is into Smash and some students have missed playing Mario Kart. Speaking of that, I am having another tournament for Spring Break for Mario Kart 8. I need to make a new Powerpoint this weekend along with qualifying criteria..

You've Got Mail!

I've planned this idea since the summer but have finally decided to use it to boost my class as things have been a bit more hectic since the new year (2015). Each student has their own "mailbox". I purchased them here and here. Whenever students do something remarkable like, participate, help another student, be attentive, follow directions, try their best, etc. I make sure to write a note on the colored cards. The size fits perfectly into the mailbox (whoever did the measurements is a good mathematician)! I sign these notes and date them. I call them by groups to "check their mail."

They are very happy to receive one and take them home to their parents! It has been helpful in getting students motivated to stay on task and make their parents happy. I want to have something at the end of the year for students who've accumulated a certain amount. I've been advising them to keep a stash of these notes somewhere safe. It can't be a pizza party... Help!

Squares and Powers

As I mentioned previously, I would be updating with a short clip of the students using the dice game recently. I will likely upload a game or two of the students playing at some point.

Square Dice

We've finished the last unit (Number Sense) working with the physical coordinate plane to learn about absolute value, integers, ordering and plotting. We have started to learn about expressions and equations. So far I've taught students about what a variable is, as well as rules i.e. a - f  + f = a, and b * c / b = c. The first fun activity we've started to do with this lesson is using Thinkfun's Math Power Dice. I first bought a pair of these after a trip to the Math Museum, but you can also find them on Amazon.

Rules of the game: There are two players and two sets of dice. Player one rolls the blue and red dice to get the "target number". The blue die represents the base, and the red die represents the exponent (i.e. if the blue die lands on 4, and the red die lands on 2, the target number is 16 because 4 squared = 16). Player two rolls the three normal dice. These numbers are then combined in any way shape or form using the operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, even exponents) to get the target number or come close to reaching the target number. You can ONLY use each number and each operation once. 

How it works: One player will call out a number and explain how they arrived at that number. The second player has 15 seconds to either get the target number, or come closer to the target number than the other player's number. If the player is unsuccessful in doing either of these after 15 seconds, the player forfeits the point. The first player to reach 4 points first wins. I will upload a video later of students playing. There is room to modify the game to your liking and to your students. I changed the rules to needing only 3 points to win, and I actually don't think that there's a restriction on the number of times operations can be used, but I've only allowed students to use each operation ONE time.

Human Ordered Pairs!

We have been learning about the Cartesian Coordinate Plane recently! If you remember this post , we've finally reached this section of math. I purchased A Fly on the Ceiling from amazon sometime last week to prepare for this new topic. Thanks to previous experience with read alouds for kindergarteners and 1st graders, the kids were really engaged with the story. After spending a little time modeling how to find an ordered pair, everyone wanted to try! They had a blast.

While some kids were too cool for school, most of the students did some plotting and had fun with the activity. I gave them post-its with ordered pairs to plot. Most of the classes are working on quadrants now.

Human Ordering Integers!

We have been working very hard lately on unit 3. This unit is about children beginning to understand negative and positive numbers as well as the contexts in which they play a role in the real world. Here is a short clip of one of the fun activities we've been doing recently in class (I must admit, even I've had a blast playing with the kids)!

Instead of having students order integers on a sheet of paper or on a worksheet, just grab a few index cards, think of your students and decide what integers/numbers you want them to order! This is really good for seeing where students are. Positive integers > positive decimals > positive fractions > negative integers > negative decimals > negative fractions. I've found that my students are good until we toss in those nasty decimals and fractions. Practice makes perfect. Eventually they get it, and this is fun for all! 

Mr. E's Mathemagicians

After spending a lot of time thinking I've finally figured out the keystones to my new program, the "Mathemagicians". Mentioned in the previous post, here is the wheel:

How it works

• The wheel will be based on 1 topic at a time
• The question difficulty will increase as students go around the wheel
• I'll start with multiple choice questions in order to check papers quickly w/ an answer key
• Each assignment is worth 500 points
• Must score 90% or higher in order to move to the next section on the wheel (at discretion)
• You can only move on by completing the work on your OWN. This does not mean that students who need help won't receive it, but in order to move along the wheel you must have completed an assignment with 90% accuracy by yourself. This is why there are 2 version of each assignment! Perhaps a student will spend their first time learning and making mistakes and practicing on version 1 of an assignment. Version 2 of an assignment can then be completed independently.
• You obtain a prize whenever you go around the wheel. There is no time limit for going around the wheel.
• When you go around the wheel, you start from the beginning of the wheel on the next topic.

Other
- Takes place during Monday and Tuesday lunch period (2 times per week, 8 times per month)
- Students can complete the wheel in 1 month for a particular topic.
- There are a total of 8 assignments per topic and 2 versions of each assignment
- If a student finishes early, they can help other students or complete version 2 of their assignment (not awarded additional points)
- If a student does not complete their assignment in that period, they can just store it in their folder and complete it the next day.
- Bulletin with rankings for the top 5 students that have the most points


Prizes
- Similar to the Gold Wii U prize, students can play PS3 during lunch time only (Wednesday)
- AMC Gold Experience Movie ticket or Regal Premier movie ticket
- $15 Barnes & Nobles gift card

Welcome to 2015! Happy New Year!

I am wishing all of my students, parents, staff, co workers, family and friends a wonderful and blessed new year! I have learned so much in 2014. I grew a lot personally towards the end of the year, I became a far better teacher, and I accomplished one of the biggest goals of my life.

I sincerely hope that 2015 will make us even more refined, give us more than what we started with, and help us grow in all areas of our lives!

I have plenty of things that I want to finish and start this year, but the ones related to teaching are:

A) Starting up my lunch program to help/offer students become more proficient
B) More signs around the room for students to refer to
C) Continue to be consistent
D) More opportunities for students to practice practice practice


1st post of 2015!